In the southern part of Equestria is a long road covered in dirt and small pebbles. Following the trail are two little unicorns, who’s destination lie further south in a place called the Badlands.

The lavender pony with the purple and pink streak mane is using her magic to light the way as they walk down the road in the dark night. She keeps herself ever vigilant in case of dangers, though there is hardly anything to be seen or heard from their current position.

“Are we there yet, Twilight?” Complains the white pony with the stylish purple mane.

Annoyed with her friend asking that same question over and over for the past hour, Twilight Sparkle answers politely for the final time, “For the last time, Rarity…no, we are not there yet, and I doubt we will be for a long while.”

The prissy pony moans and continues complaining as they walk, irritating the other unicorn to no end.

The road feels endless, as much as the night and storms above. From the look of things thus far, Twilight and Rarity seem to be getting nowhere; No matter how much they walk on and what time passes, there are getting no closer to the Badlands, where the Dragons reside.

While Twilight is determined as always to make it there as fast as possible, Rarity on the other hand refuses to go any further and sits down on the ground, “I will not take another step until I get some rest.”

Twilight groans and turns to her whiny friend, “Rarity! We have to keep moving. We can’t stop to rest every twenty minutes.”

“Has it been that long since our last break? Seemed like twenty-two...”

Twilight rolls her eyes and has no choice but to sit and wait until Ms. Fussy is ready to move on...which may take another hour. The lavender pony decides to use the free time she has to pull out the map from her saddlebag and look it over again, just to determine their current location. After careful study, she comes to one conclusion: she has no clue where they are. Without the sun, moon or stars out, there is absolutely no way to calculate the exact coordinates of their position.

As Twilight puts the map back in her saddlebag, she jumps when she hears a small scream from her friend.

“This is horrible!! Just…plain…HORRIBLE!!!!”

“What is it, Rarity?!” Twilight rushes to her friend’s aid, only to stop once she sees the issue.

“Just look at my hooves!” Rarity whines as she holds out her hooves to show the now irritated Twilight, “They are covered in dirt, and I think…*squeal*…is that a chip?! Nonononono, this is terrible…just absolutely…terrible!!!”

Twilight grumbles and has just about enough of this, when she realizes she had no choice but to approach her friend and comfort her, “It’s okay, Rarity. I’m sure we can get that fixed in no time.”

Rarity finds no comfort in those words and whines on, “But the only spa worthy to handle my beautiful hooves is back in Ponyville!”

Twilight has nothing else she can say…until an idea strikes her mind, “You know, Rarity…”

The crying unicorn looks up at her friend, “Hmm…?”

“Well, since the best place for a hoofacure is back in Ponyville, and Tirek has control of it…”

“Yes…?”

Twilight turns away and grins, “…the sooner we get help and drive that monster out of our home, the sooner you and I can take a trip to the spa…”

Rarity’s eyes widen when she now realizes the one place she loves to relax and get pampered is in the hands of that selfish and extremely cruel centaur. The white unicorn rises to her feet and growls, “That monster is going to pay for this!!” She then starts galloping down the road, “Lets go, Twilight. I want my Hoofacure!!”

Twilight smiles and runs to catch up; She had a feeling her little plan would get Rarity up and going.

Rarity and Twilight gallop down the trail for the next hour and soon become exhausted and unable to continue on.

“I…think…*pant*…we got…quite…a ways…now…” Twilight reckons.

“Perhaps…*pant*…but…now I’m…all sweaty…*pant*…and dirty…” Rarity complains. She is more desperate then before to not only get that hoofacure, but a bath.

Twilight steps off the trail and settles down in the grass nearby, “Lets get some rest. It’s no use continuing with our current condition.”

Rarity looks at herself and sighes, “I most certainly agree with you, Twilight.” The white unicorn joins the lavender one on the grass, but uses her own magic to summon a couch to lay on.

Twilight raises on eyebrow and tries to say something, “Uhhh….”

“What? You didn’t expect me to lay on the grass, did you?”

Twilight Sparkle shrugs and lays her head down upon the soft layers of green before her. She closes her eyes to relax them, but as tired as she is, the little pony quickly drifts off to sleep...

*********************************

Twilight moans a little as she sleeps, for the grass feels so soft and is so comfortable she almost does not want to get up. The scent of the grass smells wonderful to the little pony as she rolls around a little.

But as she sleeps, Twilight can hear the sounds of crickets chirping all around her. The wind blows through her coat and mane; It is warm and soothing to her. Although the moment feels so perfect, she has to open her eyes and look around.

The moment Twilight’s eyes open to view the surroundings around her, everything she sees before her is not what she expected: She is standing in a grassy meadow, with flowers in bloom all around. There are fireflies flying about, lighting up the dark throughout. The next thing Twilight notices is the sky above her. It is still night, but there are stars, glittering and sparkling all over. The moon is out and has its light shining down so the little pony can see the beauty that is before her.

“Oh…my. This is…so beautiful,” The lavender pony can think of so many things to say to what she sees, but she then notices something that is not there:

“Rarity…?” Twilight gasps when she sees that her dear friend is nowhere to be found, “Rarity! Where are you?!”

Twilight runs through the meadow, searching for her friend. But after a while, there is no sign of the purple maned pony. The little lavender unicorn sits upon the ground and feels sad; Despite all the beauty around her, being alone and nopony to share it with makes her feel like crying.

Suddenly, Twilight can feel a warm glow from behind her. She turns around quickly and sees a bright light before her; It is warm and does not blind her, no matter how much it shines.

She smiles at what she sees, but a small gasp escapes her lips when a figure appears from out of the light: He walked on four legs and is covered in a cloak and hood. The bright light vanishes and Twilight finds herself all alone with this mysterious hidden pony…

“Who…who are you?” She asks to the one before her.

“Who am I? I believe you already know who I am, Twilight,” replies the pony, who is the very same one from her last dream.

Twilight brings a hoof to her mouth and gasps again, “Its…you. You’re…you’re Courageous of Light!”

The pony just smiles from within his hood and lifts his hoof to remove it along with the rest of his cloak. The cloth falls to the ground and Twilight is amazed at what she now sees: A young stallion stands tall, almost as tall as any other. The color of his coat is brown; His tail and mane are long and a darker brown. His wings spread out and are magnificent. His horn is long and sharp, which resides on his forehead right above his yellow eyes.

Twilight is in awe, but the last part of him that she notices is his Cutie Mark: It is that of a golden heart, which has a pair of Pegasus wings and the head of a unicorn at the top.

The young Alicorn gives a polite bow and speaks to the speechless unicorn, “My name…is Courageous Heart. It is good to see you again, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight quickly replies when she hears him introduce himself properly, “It is…good to see you too…I guess.”

Courageous tilts his head, “Does something trouble you?”

“Well, maybe a little. Am…am I dreaming again?”

“Yes…you are.”

Twilight looks around and wonders, “It’s so beautiful here. Is this your home or something?”

Courageous Heart gives a small chuckle and shakes his head lightly, “It is not. This is your dream. I believe this is somewhere you dream of being in: a beautiful, peaceful place as this, under the starry night sky.”

Twilight smiles and realizes what he says is true, “You’re right. I do dream of something like this. But wait…”

“Yes?”

“How can you be here? Can you enter dreams or something?” Twilight wonders.

Courageous shakes his head again, “I do not enter other ponies dreams so freely. I am here because you want me to be…and I myself wanted to see you, Twilight.”

Twilight is surprised by his words, “But…why? Why me?”

Courageous moves a little closer to her and smiles, “Because…you’re special.”

Twilight gasps a little and cannot help but blush a little, “I’m…special?”

Courageous nods, “Yes…in more ways than you know.”

Twilight’s eyes stare into the stallion’s and she feels unable to respond. Before she can think of anything, Courageous turns a little, “Take a walk with me, Twilight. We can talk as we go."

Twilight nods her head and comes up beside him. The two ponies walk slowly across the meadow, enjoying the company of the other.

As both Twilight and Courageous walk across the grassy plains filled with flowers and fireflies, the little unicorn sighs happily to all that she has within this dream of hers: a wondrous place and a kind stallion by her side.

"This place is amazing. I wish it was like this back home,” The memory of home and its current state suddenly come to her, “Oh my gosh…my home!” Twilight stops and turns to her new friend, “Courageous, my home was attacked and is now ruled over by a dark centaur named Tirek! He turned everypony I knew and loved into-”

Courageous holds his hoof up to stop her gently, followed by a sad nod, “I know…and I am sorry.”

“You…you were right. You knew this was going to happen. You tried to warn me, and I-”

“No Twilight...” Courageous moves his hoof under her chin so she can meet his eyes as he speaks, “There was nothing you could have done to prevent this from happening. What matters now is that you and your friend are safe, and that you are now on a quest to save Equestria from Him.”

Twilight looks into his eyes, but tears start to form. She sniffs and can not help the way she is feeling.

Courageous brings his wing over to meet Twilight’s face. Very carefully and gently, he wipes the tears away. To see her cry brings sadness to his heart; Seeing her sad makes him feel the same.

Twilight sniffs and mutters, “Thank…you…”

Courageous smiles again upon hearing her thanks, “You're welcome...”

Twilight takes a moment to let the sad feeling pass, and then she sits down, “Can I…ask you something?”

The brown Alicorn sits down in front of her and nods, “Of course.”

“Is…is there hope?”

Courageous can see Twilight is still feeling down from all that has happened to her. He smiles and responds, “Yes…there is always hope, as long as you keep this strong,” Courageous Heart scoots closer to her and gently presses his hoof to her chest.

Twilight gasps and looks down to see where he is pointing to, “My…heart?”

Yes…” Courageous smiles warmly, “As long as you keep believing and never let the Darkness defeat you, then the Light will continue to shine ever bright within you. Let it guide you, and you will see your home again.”

Twilight feels great comfort and truth in his words. As his hoof remains on her chest, she can not help but smile warmly at him.

“You will face many dangers as you continue your quest, those that are your enemies…and your friends.” Courageous explains softly, “Let this gift I give to you, help you in your time of need.”

Twilight Sparkle suddenly feels something…something warm and pure on her chest. She looks down and sees Courageous’s arm and hoof glow brightly in a yellowish white color. The feeling is so…incredible to her: She feels as if she is at peace, and all her troubles have gone away...with nothing left to fear.

She places her arm onto his gently, looks up, and stares into his yellow eyes. What she is feeling now, she cannot explain. All she can feel…is her heart beating. A small blush falls upon her cheeks as the warmth of the Light enters her heart.

Courageous notices her warm smile and blushing, and returns the expression with the same. In his eyes and heart, she is a very special and beautiful pony. He wishes he could tell her that, but suddenly a glowing source of Light appears behind him. He frowns, removes his hoof from Twilight, and starts to back up slowly.

“Courageous...what’s happening?” Twilight asks in shock.

“My time here has reached its end. I have to go now...”

The lavender unicorn gasps and runs up to him, “No please! Don’t go!” Twilight shakes her head lightly and staresinto his eyes, “Please…don’t go.”

Courageous knows that no words will prevent her from crying. All he can do for her is come up to her and hug her close to him, “I promise…you will see me again soon, the next time you dream.”

Twilight blushes and sinks the side of her face into his brown coat. A small tear runs down her eye as she stays close to him within his embrace, “Don't leave me..."

“I am always with you, Twilight.” He whispers.

Twilight holds onto him for as long as she can, refusing to let him go. For a reason she cannot explain, she feels happy when she iswith him. She wonders if all this that she dreams is what her heart desires the most.

Courageous Heart holds her close and wishes he could stay longer, but the Light behind him begins to move up towards them. He hugs her for as long as possible, until the brightness engulfs them both.

Twilight Sparkle and Rarity are making their way to the Badlands to find the Dragons. But now the little lavender pony dreams of the Champion once again, and feels a special place in her heart, where he belongs.